AGAIN A LARGE 'ELECTRIC' ORDER FOR BYD IN SOUTH-AMERICA

After having delivered in December 2018 100 electric buses to Santiago in Chile BYD again signend a large order for 60 electric buses. The Chinese manufacturer announced it won the bid to provide the Colombian city of Medellín with 64 pure electric buses, setting the stage for what will become the largest fleet of electric buses in Colombia, and the second-largest
fleet in Latin America.

For this tender for 64 electric buses four manufactures made a bid. BYD had teamed up with local operator Metroplús

(BRT system). BYD will deliver the 12.5-meter K9G electric buses in the second-half of 2019. Medellín has set a goal to become the capital of electric mobility in Latin America. "We will turn Medellín into the capital of electric mobility in Latin America. The tender for electric buses is ready for Metroplús and the city. There will be 64 electric buses, to be operating in August, making this the largest electric bus fleet in the country”, said Mayor Federico Gutiérrez. “We are working together with the rest of the C40 cities to battle climate change", Mr. Gutiérrez added making a reference to C40 Cities, a network of the world’s megacities committed to addressing climate change, of which Medellín is a member.

The 12.5-meter K9G bus has a capacity of 80 passengers. BYD states that these buses only need less than 2 hours of recharging time. Charging points will placed in different areas of the city.

BYD stated in their press release that Metroplús bought in 2017 the city's first 18-metre pure electric articulated bus, BYD K11. Over the last 9 months it covered more than 50,000km. In addition, it demonstrated a 60% saving in costs as well as a 75% saving in maintenance compared to a standard diesel-powered articulated bus. The K11 travelled more than 5,800 km per month.

BYD has also seen growing demand for its eco-friendly public transport solutions across Latin America. In November 2018, the company received an order for 20 electric buses from Ecuador and delivered early December 2018 the first 15 units to São Paulo in Brazil.